New York Times raves about Ann Arbor small plates restaurant

Like most national coverage of Ann Arbor's dining scene, the review starts with a reference to the city's most famous food ambassador, Zingerman's. But in this week's review of Spencer, which opened at 113 E. Liberty 53 weeks ago, New York Times freelancer Rebecca Flint Marx celebrates the small plates restaurant for its own unique identity.

When Abby Olitzky and Steve Hall opened Spencer in October, 2015, it was marketed as a wine and cheese bar. Though the cozy shop has cheese and charcuterie plates and a well-curated wine list, the patrons who regularly share the restaurant's communal tables know that it's much closer to a fine dining restaurant - albeit in a casual environment - than a wine bar.

The restaurant's menu changes according to seasonal and regional ingredient availability and Olitzky and Hall's enthusiasms. During a week in September, the pair decided to turn the lunch menu into a celebration of sandwiches. Thinly sliced vegetables, local goat cheese and fresh herbs topped a vegetable tartine. Ham, havarti and fennel fronds topped a sandwich that was almost as beautiful as it was delicious.

"I know that 'seasonal' and 'local' are buzzy words these days," Hall told The Ann Arbor News in 2015. "The big thing for us is that we're really dedicated to quality and craft. We try to not use those as buzz words. One of our big things is being very honest. We're honest about the sources of our food because they matter to us, not because we can charge more for it."